Conversations With Dead People
by kidofthefrozenfrontrange
Summary: After the final battle, the memories of those who had died help those who remain deal with the present and the future.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own anything.

* * *

The rubble had been swept away; the dead long buried. Hogwarts was well on its way to becoming whole again. It structures would be new, but the final battle never forgotten.

For weeks they had all pitched in the return Hogwarts to its glory. The Weasleys despite their grief, the "golden trio" despite their title as heroes. Everyone who had loved the halls, or even just walked them, helped. It was hard work. The rubble reminding them of what had happened over the one night, over all those years, making it harder to simply get the job done.

It had been weeks since Harry, Ron, and Hermione were in the same room together for longer than a few minutes before being ushered away either by work to be done or their new responsibilities as those who truly knew the whole story. For a while they hardly had time to notice their absence in each other's lives, but it was soon unavoidable for Ron to notice the void left behind without Hermione nearby or the solitude that came with not speaking with Harry everyday.

He had assumed, for the most part, that they were avoiding him intentionally, to give him time with his family in their time of grief. A part of him was grateful for the time alone to grieve Fred. Another part hated their partial abandonment of him, leaving him with a broken family he did not know how to fix.

Finally, after a few days past and the noticeable change could be ignored no longer, he abandoned his work helping rebuild the castle, avoided the throngs of students who wanted to hear the sordid details of the last year, and made his way to the library. Harry's location was always muddled by scheduled and arbitrary meetings with the Ministry or Order members nowadays, but Hermione could always be reliably found near the remains of the school library, tirelessly preserving the place she loved so.

He found her alone, sorting through a pile of singed books, silently repairing them with simple flicks of her wand. For a moment he hesitated, aside from a few spoken words and embraces- mostly at funeral ceremonies, he had not seen the girl much since they first kissed. Before he could even consider turning back she turned to him, noticing his tall shadow behind her. She gave a small smile and motioned for him to join her among the books.

"Need some help?" He asked.

"Of course." She replied simply, handing him a few books.

Moments passed in silence together. The silence was different from the usual periods without conversation they had back in school, when he would work on his essays late at night and she would stay up with him reading. It's weight was heavier upon him, urging him to say something. As he repaired the bindings and removed soot he found his mind could wander quite easily, and he wondered what Hermione let her own mind wander to in these times.

"Hermione?" He asked.

"Hmm?" She asked, still efficiently cleaning.

"Wh- What do you think about? When you're doing all this?" He asked, motioning to the stacks.

"A lot of things I suppose." She answered.

"Well, what were you thinking of before I got here?" He pressed.

A tinge of pink crossed her cheeks. While Ron knew he was not the most keen observer of Hermione, he had always recognized that sign of embarrassment. According to Ginny it often was accompanied by thoughts of none other than himself.

"...Fred." She answered cautiously.

Stirrings in his chest rose quickly. There were the obvious ones that always came with the mention of his brother nowadays. The pain and heartache that came with remembering he was no longer. The guilt he felt for being unable to rouse his family from their dark times. The image of his brother's face, smiling up at him. But now, there was something else. Something he had not felt for months.

"Oh?" He replied, trying to be casual, "You-you miss him?"

"Of course Ron. I loved him dearly. He and I were closer than you might have thought."

The words brought back the sickening feeling. The one he hadn't felt since the heavy chain of the horrid necklace was wrapped around his neck and thoughts. He didn't want to feel this way again. He wanted to feel like he had when she kissed him. When she picked him. But there was that part of him still. The one that made him think maybe she picked the wrong Weasley. Maybe she was looking for Fred, but settled for him instead.

He did not respond to her answer; he could barely continue working on the books. His mind raced, all those times with Hermione, was he imagining it all? Was she really in love with his brother?

The worst part was he knew. Fred saw through Ron even when Ron couldn't see himself. He could even remember talking to him first about Hermione.

"_Fred. Wait!" Ron called out to his older brother._

_While Ron was alone, Fred was accompanied by George and Lee who, after pausing a moment at Ron's voice, continued along their way, leaving Fred and Ron thankfully alone._

"_I just...wanted to ask you something. About this bloody stupid Yule Ball." Ron nervously started._

"_Sorry, mate, but I do already have a date." Fred joked._

"_No," Ron said annoyed, "But that's just it isn't it? You asked Angelina to the ball?" He asked slowly._

"_Yes, Ron. I'm afraid she's taken too." Fred replied, walking a few paces ahead of his younger brother._

"_But you two are friends," Ron retorted, ignoring his teasing._

"_So?"_

"_So won't that make things...weird with you two?"_

_Fred stopped, an impish grin spreading across his features that made Ron cringe, reinforcing his earlier belief that this was a huge mistake. He groaned a bit as Fred turned around to face him, the smile even wider now._

"_Now why would this be a concern of yours?" Fred asked playfully._

"_That's not important. I just thought, I mean, what if something happens and you can't be friends anymore?"_

"_Are you thinking of following in the same footsteps?"  
"What? No!"_

"_Does ickle Ronniekins have a crush on someone?"_

"_Shut it!" Ron turned to leave, abandoning the idea._

"_Oi, get back here!" Fred shouted, "Or this little revelation will suddenly be a LOT more public."_

_Reluctantly Ron made his way back to his brother, all the while staring daggers at him. The looks only seemed to encourage the smile Fred kept widening._

"_Now does this crush have anything to with a certain...bookish girl we all know and love?" Fred goaded. Ron turned crimson. "Come on now, how can I help you-"_

"_I don't know!" Ron interrupted, "I don't know if I like her or not. I just thought if I take her to this stupid thing...." He let his thought trail._

"_You could find out if you did fancy her. Or if she fancied you, right?" Fred finished, slightly less entertained, and more ready to offer actual advise._

"_But if she doesn't and I ask her-"_

"_You think you guys won't be friends anymore?"_

_Silence followed as Ron confirmed with a small, nervous nod of the head and a glance around the empty hall to make sure no one else knew. Fred sighed a little._

"_Look, if you want to ask her just ask her. Waiting will only make it harder."_

"_But-"_

"_Tell her you wanna go as friends. Figure out the rest from there. Do it soon, or someone else will, mate." Fred replied as he quickly made his way to catch up to his friends._

It had almost worked, too. Ron recalled . He was making his way to the common room to ask Hermione to the ball, even practicing all the way through the halls, mumbling various invitations under his breathe until he bumped, quite literally, into Fleur. After a few dazed moments staring at her, and his already raging hormones getting the best of him, he let slip the words he was practicing just moments before. A simple apology would have sufficed, instead he asked her to the ball, unable to form any other words but the ones meant for Hermione. After her rejection he lost his nerve until, asking only after it was too late.

Fred had known.

Watching Hermione look up at him expectantly, his mouth somewhat agape as if he was about to speak he returned to the present.

"I have to go." He said suddenly rising from his position, leaving a surprised and confused Hermione in a haze of his memories.

Then the words slipped into his head. He never thought they ever would, never thought there would be anything but grief and fond memories for his brother. But in all his self doubt he let the guilt laden words in.

He hated his brother.

* * *

I started this knowing full well I'm in the middle of finals, so I expect to update sometime after Wednesday shortly after I shout "I'm free, I'm free" as I exit the classroom.

Kudos if you get the title reference to another geeky obsession of mine.

Let me know how I did so far...


	2. Chapter 2

Well I'm still not shouting "I'm free" from school just yet, but I needed to do something aside from study to maintain sanity:

* * *

Harry collapsed on a nearby sofa, unwilling to go any further with his ridiculous meetings with ministry workers or any other nonsense. He wasn't even needed as far as he could tell, merely an ornament to hang about while the grown ups talked.

It was only a few blissful moments of rest, however, before he heard someone enter the Gryffindor common room noisily. It only took the fleeting tuft of red hair that streaked by for him to know it was Ron. It took less than that for him to realize there was also something wrong with his best mate. And yet, he did not immediately rise to his aid.

He had been doing that a lot recently. Hesitating in a moment where he would have had no problem coming to his friend's side before. Before this war- his war- had taken Ron's brother. Now he was unsure of how to move, speak, in front of him. He knew Ron and the rest of the Weasley's certainly didn't blame him for Fred's death. He himself had managed to feel less guilty about what transpired during the war, but still, he did not know how to act.

The time that passed had made things easier, his presence around his friend no longer seemed strained, though with all that had to be done Harry still hadn't seen much of Ron. At least now he could say the avoidance wasn't entirely intentional. He rose to catch up to his friend, following him up the stairs to the rooms they were sleeping in whilst repairing the school.

"Harry?" A voice asked from behind him.

His heart skipped a beat and again uncertainty plagued him as he turned to face Ginny. She was another person he had taken to unintentionally avoiding these days. For entirely different reasons, however.

"Is something the matter?" She asked.

"I just saw Ron run up to the dorms. It looked like he was upset, I was going to..." Harry motioned up the stairs but trailed off as he spoke, he wasn't sure what he was going to do when he actually met up with Ron.

"Actually I don't know what I was going to do when I got up there." Harry admitted.

"Does this mean your done avoiding him?" She asked, "Does this mean you're done avoiding me?"

He looked down sheepishly. He had hoped that in all the fuss after the war his actions would not have been so blatantly obvious. He should have known better, especially with Ginny.

"I wasn't avoiding you-" He tried.

"Is this still about Fred because I swear Harry I will hex-"

"No!" He said frantically, "I mean. I'm still upset obviously. You have to understand a part of me will always think these deaths are my fault Gin-"

"Harry-"

"You can say they aren't all you want but that won't make me think it any less, Ginny. But I haven't been avoiding you because of that." He finished, abandoning the stairs and moving closer to the girl he adored so.

"Then why?" She asked defiantly.

"Because...I don't know how to act around you anymore," He said, frustrated, "What we were and what we are now. It's muddled. Everything's still complicated but I-"

He stopped himself, realizing he was venting to a girl that had just lost people she cared for, before admitting just how much he loved her. She smiled a bit, before motioning for him to take a seat. As he did she followed suit, placing herself close by him before taking his hand in hers.

"Harry, this isn't as complicated as your making it out to be." She started, "I love you. I always have. The rest can be figured out later"

"I love you too, but-" She stopped him.

"But nothing. I want to tell you something about the summer before you left last year," she began.

_Just a few days after Dumbledore's funeral she sat in her room alone. Despite all the courage __she mustered for Harry that day, she still crumbled at their breakup. It wasn't just the heartache of no __longer being with the boy she had always wanted, but the fear of what was going to happen to him now. The thoughts about how he would fare against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. About if he failed...if he died._

_The only person she was certain knew of what had happened was Ron and, while she was grateful for his attempts to make her feel better, his tact left a lot to be desired, and would often make matters worse. _

_There was a constant stream of people entering and leaving the Burrow. She couldn't tell which was worse, the Order members who were planning and trying to get work done that would ultimately lead to a confrontation between Harry and Voldemort or the wedding planners and organizers reminding her that happiness was actually a possibility for some people._

_The summer had drawn on and the visits more and more frequent from both groups as the wedding fast approached and the plan to extradite Harry from the Dursley's to the Burrow was coming to head. Ron and Hermione were with Harry and her mom was insistent on her helping with the wedding. _

_In a foul mood already, having to help marry Phlegm to her brother and not really wanting to do much of anything that day her assistance to Tonks in helping clean seemed to be more of a hindrance until finally Tonks took notice._

"_Something the matter, Ginny?" She asked casually._

_'What makes you think that?" She had asked back through gritted teeth._

"_Well, you've managed to break more stuff than I have. Now that's an accomplishment, I must say." She replied with a slight nudge to Ginny's shoulder._

_Suddenly all her frustration could no longer be contained. All her emotions, the ones she could never reveal in front of all her brothers, yearned to be released and without Hermione around, it would have to be Tonks. They had never had a whole lot of conversations before, but she was desperate._

"_I'm just," She paused for a moment, trying to find the words._

"_Come on, then, don't be shy," Tonks insisted, "Boys troubles?"_

_'How'd you guess?" Ginny asked, relieved she wouldn't have to admit it aloud, "I want to be with someone but he says its too complicated. He doesn't want to hurt me."_

_Tonks just gave a knowing smile and Ginny realized she may have found the perfect person to talk to in Tonks. She remembered the troubles she and Lupin had when they first got together. How he thought it was too much of a risk for her to be with a werewolf. She noted the new ring on her finger._

"_You and Remus, how did you get him to realize what a git he was being?" She asked. Tonks laughed._

"_Ginny, there's always going to be complications in a relationship. You just have to ask yourself, is it worth it? He had to ask himself the same thing. If it's meant to be then, well, you can figure the rest out later." Tonks replied._

_Ginny thought forlornly of Harry. She knew he was the only one she wanted to be with, she knew it was worth it. But she had to wonder if that was the same case for him. Was she worth it for him? Was he really just being cautious and protecting her, or was he leaving her for another reason?_

"_How do you know if he feels its worth it or not?" Ginny asked._

"_You can't until he knows himself." She answered, a small smile crept onto her, "But hey, you can always convince him some clever way." She finished playfully with a wink._

"Well, it's good to know you jumping me on my birthday was a genuine act of love and not some form of manipulation." Harry said with a chuckle after she told him the story.

"Do you understand _why_ I'm telling you this?" She asked, mildly annoyed.

"Yes," He answered, "I'm sorry for what I had to do before I left, but I'm not sorry I did it. It was to protect you. But you have to know I already know, Ginny. It's worth it. It's always been worth it. You've always been worth it."

She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. For the first time in far too long for both of the their lips met with the first of many kisses to come.

* * *

So this is primarily Ron and Hermione, and this completely avoids the story I started, but it's also about people remembering those who had died so I quite like Ginny and Tonks having a conversation.

Does it work? Let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

And now the thrilling conclusion(ish).

* * *

The common room was quite and serene as Hermione entered, a nice change from the chaos that was outside. People everywhere working on different projects, shouting, laughing, crying. Within the room the lights were somewhat dim, and only Ginny and Harry were there, talking softly with each other on a nearby chair. She paused, noticing their close nature with a pang. Firstly because interrupting this obviously recent development would not be welcome, nor a willing choice of hers, but also because she was wishing the same thing would happen to her.

After their kiss there had only been a few moments alone with Ron, and even fewer moments of intimacy. She could understand his hesitance, with everything that happened to his family, but as the days and weeks passed there was less and less understanding and more and more shameful impatience. She didn't want to force anything onto him, but waiting was getting hard.

"Hermione, hey." Harry said with a soft, lazy smile upon noticing her arrival. His arm placed around Ginny made her envious.

"Hey, have you guys seen Ron?" She asked.

"Yeah, he came storming through a few minutes ago, didn't seem to happy. I was going to go talk to him but..." Harry trailed off.

She noticed his voice both sheepish and hesitant. She knew he felt guilty for not going to his friend, but he also made the slightest motion to Ginny with his head, explaining to her without words what had happened, and why he didn't want to leave at that precise moment. Hermione didn't want him to leave either. If she wasn't going to receive her happiness anytime soon, at least Ginny and Harry could.

"Don't worry," She said, "I'll go up and talk to him. I suspect this has something to do with our conversation today."

"What happened?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not sure. I mentioned Fred and...well I think he's still having problems with his death." Hermione explained.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come up too?" Harry asked, somewhat against his will.

"No, no. You too stay here. It looks like you too have finally come to your senses." She said with a chuckle.

They resumed their intimate conversation as Hermione made her way up the stairs to Ron. All but one door in the hall was wide open, and it didn't take a genius such as herself to realize what room he had stowed himself in. She started with a small knock. Nothing. Slightly louder. Still nothing. Finally she gave a large bang to the door, calling out his name. Rustling came from inside before the door swung open to reveal her friend.

"Sorry," He mumbled, almost to himself.

"Ron is something the matter?" She asked as she let herself in after he went back into the room.

"No, nothing." He said, obviously lying.

"Well Harry said you were upset when you walked in here and you left so abruptly while we were talking earlier I thou-"

"You could have told me, Hermione." He interrupted.

"Told you what, Ron?" She asked, confused.

"About you and Fred. You could have told me."

"Me and Fred?"

"If I had known I-I could have at least...I wouldn't have wasted so much time trying to..." He trailed off, distraught.

"Ron what are you talking about?" She asked, genuinely baffled.

"You and Fred were in love. Which is fine, I guess. I just, I-I thought-"

"Are you mad?" She asked, trying to contain laughter, both because of ludicrous thought and because of the thought of laughing without or because of Fred still seemed wrong somehow.

"You said you loved him and-and that you two were close." He explained, starting to get confused himself. He sat slumped, not looking at her on his bed.

In that moment she wasn't sure quite how to feel. There was the obvious amusement and confusion that came with what he thought she had meant, but there was something else there. A realization she had never quite pieced together. Despite her own enjoyment of the slightly comedic misunderstanding she saw Ron's insecurities, the lack of confidence that had come with being the youngest boy, being friends with the chosen one. In his face she saw genuine anguish over the situation. An idea so insane to her was something he could actually fathom. It was harder for him to believe her feelings lied with him. She sat down beside him.

"Ron," She started delicately, "I loved your brother but, we weren't in love. I loved him like you loved him." She explained.

"But-" He started.

"But nothing. He and I were never like that. He-he actually helped me with you." She admitted, a flush coming to her cheeks.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

She sighed a bit, unsure of whether or not admitting everything here would be a good idea. Nerves hit her, though his own words had shown he, too, shared her same feelings.

"Do you remember when you nearly died?"

"You're going to have to be bit more specific, Hermione." He joked, despite the situation. She continued.

"Sixth year, after you were poisoned..."

_She felt ill as she exited Ron's room, leaving his family there. Harry had left earlier, but she had come back despite Pomfrey's insistence that only family be with him. It was a ludicrous protocol. How would having loved ones around be a bad thing to a patient?_

_She had been there only a few moments, but her thoughts were driving her insane. The whole family had been more than welcoming to her, making polite conversation despite the situation. Fred and George even cracked a few jokes, but she could not handle it, she could not face Ron. Shaking, she left the room, making it only to just outside the clinic before feeling hot tears spring from her eyes._

_She didn't want any of them to see, not the Weasley's, though she knew they would be supportive, not anyone in the school for fear that news would get around about her rather obvious breakdown over Ron. Suddenly a she noticed a shadow over her. She turned, trying to conceal her tears. The shadow did not disappear._

"_Come on, then, not here," Fred Weasley told her as he pulled her into a more secluded hall, where she immediately crumbled to the floor. She allowed him to put his arm around her as she let the tears freely fall._

"_I'm sorry-" she said, muffled by the tears._

"_About what?" He said with a small laugh._

_She wasn't sure why she was apologizing, but for some reason she did. Of all the people that should be upset and crying it should be his family, not the girl he's not dating._

"_I just- we were fighting." She explained._

"_Ah, would this have anything to do with the rather annoying girl that came over earlier shrieking about her little Won-Won?" He asked. _

_She could only nod yes. It seemed so petty now, to be so jealous that she refused to speak to him. To want to be Lavender so much the sight of the two of them together made her want to cry as much as his almost death. _

"_It won't last." Fred said, as if he knew the future already. Like he had seen it._

"_What makes you think that?" She asked._

"_Because he's in love with another girl." Fred said simply, giving her a significant look, making it quite clear she knew what girl he spoke of._

"_He's-He's not in love with me," Hermione said, defeated, "If he was he never would have started dating her in the first place. I-I even asked him to that stupid Christmas party." _

"_Ron's a little more complex than his poorly constructed exterior would suggest," Fred said with a smile, "and he's not exactly cued up to the thought that you might even like him."_

"_How could he not?"_

"_Amazing brothers like us, the kid's got some confidence problems." She scoffed._

"_So when someone as amazing as you," Fred persisted, "falls for him, he's going to be a bit skeptical. Enough to settle for someone clearly not as good."_

"_Why are you being so nice to me?" Hermione suddenly asked, "All I ever did was confiscate your products and try to give you detention all through school." He smiled._

"_Gotta be nice to the future sister in law, you know."_

"_I'm-"_

"_Do you love him?" He cut to the chase, suddenly very serious. After a pause, she nodded, finally able to admit the truth. _

"_Two people in love with each other will be very hard to keep apart for too long. No matter how many people may get in the way." With a small squeeze of her shoulders he rose, rejoining his family. After a moment soaking in what he had said, she too rose, able to face things again._

Ron sat in silence for a moment after she told him about their conversation. She tried to read his expression, but again he was not willing to face her. Her nerves kicked in again as she worried about what might be running through his mind.

"He was right, you know." He said finally.

"Right?"

"About...me. How I felt. About you. He was right."

"Oh." She replied, dumbstruck. It was the first time he had really admitted anything with actual words.

Their eyes finally met. She could feel herself inching her head slightly closer to him. Either she was seeing things or the same thing was happening with Ron's. Nervously, the approach took forever, until finally...Ron groaned and fell back onto the bed, leaving Hermione approaching nothing.

"I'm sorry, Ron. I thought-"

"No-No!" he sat up instantly, "I didn't...Merlin I can mess things up." She smiled a bit.

"It's okay, you're not ready-"

"Like hell I'm not! Seven years, Hermione!" He suddenly became very flustered, "I just can't stop thinking about what he said. He helped me and I thought-"

"He loved you, Ron."

"I-I... I actually thought I hated him." He admitted, "In my mind, the word 'hate' was actually used."

"You didn't mean it." She tried.

"But I did. In that moment. The thought of losing one more thing to my brothers...I just feel so guilty for always thinking like that. I love them all of them. You saw me at the funeral, I could barely hold it together but-"

"You want to be your own person." She said, trying to soothe his pain.

"And you," He finally admitted, "I wanted you. Enough to actually think I hated my brother because he had you."

"He knew you loved him. And you know he loved you." Ron nodded his head, knowing what she said was true.

Without another word, Ron returned his gaze to Hermione. He reached his hand out, caressing her cheek, turning her lips into a smile upon the touch. Words were no longer necessary as they both understood. Things would not go away over night, just as Hogwarts was not rebuilt over night. Ron's confidence would need work. Hermione had no problem helping with that. Harry still had a lot to deal with, both with Ron and within himself. Fred's death would not be soon forgotten, both knew. There would be memories such as those that helped them finally move forward together, there would be others that made it hard for them to love him all the time, but they always would.

For now, there was one thing that had its immediate changes. As Ron and Hermione's lips met, their future changed at once. No longer separate, but together.

* * *

So...that was my first mult-chaptered fanfic. I kind of have an epilogue in my head, but not on paper so if you want to read it let me know and review.


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